Wonderful
by Cyberwolf
Summary: What happens to the boys after the war ends? Their future isn't as nice as it should have been...listening to Everclear until your brain rots would be helpful in understanding, just as I did while writing this. ^^;;


The year is AC 198. Pacifism is the deeply ingrained policy of every nation and Colony on Earth. Trade is roaring; living standards are high; the last painful remnants of war have been erased. Everything is wonderful…

****

Colony L1:

The camera closes-up on an old man saying to his equally grizzled companion, "Hey, ain't life wonderful?"

The camera swings down the street, passing over the heads of pedestrians who keep saying "Wonderful…", their voices overlapping each other.

****

Colony L2:

The camera focuses on the face of a young teenage girl looking longingly through a shop window at the new styles brought up from Earth. "Isn't it wonderful?" she sighs.

****

Colony L3:

People who haven't been able to afford any entertainment during the war years now, in the peaceful era, flock to such things as the circus. As they watch the talented young acrobat in a half-mask, the accolades of "Wonderful," fall from their lips like rain, the camera sweeping over their happy faces.

Later, a little boy happily licks the ice cream cone his older sister bought him. His first taste of sugar in three years, he shows his appreciation of the treat by sing-songing, "Wonderful wonderful wonderful…" 

****

Colony L4:

The camera gives a bird's-eye view of an adolescent boy lying in the middle of a grassy field. He yawns sleepily and looks up at the bright stars he can see through the Colony's transparent viewbay. "Life is so wonderful…"

****

Colony L5:

The camera follows a little girl on the shoulders of her father, just come home from the wars. As they walk through a park filled with the vivid colors and sweet scent of just-bloomed flowers, she tightens her hold on her father and whispers to him, "Isn't everything wonderful?"

****

Earth:

A young couple sit together on a bench, the girl's head resting on her boyfriend's shoulder. As they gaze up at the shining stars and the brighter dots of the orbiting Colonies, she closes her eyes and sighs blissfully, "Everything is so wonderful now…" 

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Songfic: Wonderful, sung by Everclear. 

By: Cyberwolf

----

open on the same busy street of L1, only now the happy, cheerful crowd is cast in grayish tones. The only colored thing is Heero Yuy, who walks quickly through the press of bodies, head down and jacket slung over his shoulder, unnoticed by the people around him

cut to a bird's-eye view of a shabby-looking neighborhood of L1. The camera zooms through the window of a run-down apartment building that looks like it should be scheduled to be demolished soon for being such an eyesore. It shows a large, bare, studio-type apartment. There is a cot hard against the wall, with a small desk next to it that holds a laptop and a black pistol on its scarred wooden surface

__

I close my eyes when I get too sad  
The scene brightens as the door opens, spilling a triangle of pale light across the shadowy floor. The silhouette of a lean young man is brightly etched onto it. The shadow shrinks as the figure moves into the room, and as the camera closes-up on the face, we see it is Heero. He flops bonelessly onto the cot

__

I think thoughts that I know are bad  
He turns onto his side. He catches sight of the night table next to the cot, and as he stares at the pistol, something about it triggers a flood of memories into his mind

__

Close my eyes and I count to ten

He squeezes his eyes shut, breathing in and out with deep, rigidly controlled breaths, trying to check the shuddering of his slight frame  
_Hope it's over when I open them_

Scene cuts to a room in the suburbs of L2. Duo sprawls in a chair, chewing on a pencil as he concentrates on a column of figures. He throws his head back and sighs, throwing down the pencil in frustration  
_I want the things that I had before_  
"I'm not an accountant," he grouses. "I hate this…" He regrets the words as he says them, knowing he should be thankful for having the chance to bother about such mundane details as figures and sales. They were safe things

__

Like a Star Wars poster on my bedroom door  
He shouldn't long for the rush of adrenaline that accompanied a Mobile Suit battle; not for the feeling of victory at the end; or for the sense of purpose that all of them shared as they defended the Peacemillion…

__

I wish I could count to ten  
He groans and buries his face into his arms

__

Make everything be wonderful again

Scene change to Quatre, sitting in the middle of his spacious office. He is holding a birchwood frame in his hand, gazing at the photo of his father inside it  
_Hope my mom and I hope my dad_

He strokes his thumb over the glass, tracing the outline of his father's face. He sighs, raising his head and looking around the bright-lit room as if for the first time  
_Will figure out why they get so mad_

It was in this very room that he and his father had faced off in a battle of wills, his father telling the boy that he was no son of his until Quatre gave up fighting with his Gundam  
_Hear them scream, I hear them fight_  
And just a short while after that, his father had fought his own battle, standing up for his beliefs in front of an angry mob…even if that, in the end, killed him

__

They say bad words that make me wanna cry  
Quatre strangled a sob, flashing back to that horrid instant he'd realized his father was dead, as he held Iria in his arms and hysterical tears rolled down his pale cheeks

scene change to artificial night on the L3 colony. The camera focuses on a young circus performer exiting the tent, following him as he walks to a small trailer  
_Close my eyes when I go to bed_  
He enters the trailer and, after changing into sleeping clothes, climbs into his bunk and closes his eyes

__

And I dream of angels who make me smile  
Catherine enters the trailer quietly, gazing fondly at the sleeping boy. She walks over to him and pulls the blanket up over his shoulders. One dark green eye opens slightly, and Trowa smiles slightly at her

__

I feel better when I hear them say

The eye closes again in slumber as Catherine smiles back at him. "Sweet dreams, Trowa," she says softly before leaving   
_Everything will be wonderful someday  
_  
_Promises mean everything when you're little_

scene change to a five-year-old Wufei, kneeling before his father as his beaming mother looks on. "I swear to bring honor to the name of the Dragon Clan…"  
_And the world's so big_

A year later, little Wufei sits on a wooden chair, his tiny legs dangling unnoticed as he voraciously devours a book on the history of the world  
_I just don't understand how_

Ten years later, the little scholar has turned into a driven warrior…a warrior who is currently yelling at his clan elder, not understanding that awful edict she has just delivered. She is unmoved, looking at him with deep wisdom in her eyes  
_You can smile with all those tears in your eyes_

That expression is etched permanently in Wufei's memory as his Colony explodes in a burst of fire and light

__

Tell me everything is wonderful now  
  
_Na na na na na na na_  
Five-way split-screen showing the boys going through their everyday lives: Heero walking to school, his face blank as his schoolmates swarm around him; Duo going about his business of opening the shop up; Trowa feeding the lions; Quatre entering his building, giving a polite smile to the security guards who stand at attention as he walks by; Wufei pulling on his Preventers jacket

  
_Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now_  
_  
I go to school and I run and play_  
scene focuses on Heero, dressed in the uniform of his high school soccer team . He executes a perfect backwards drop kick that slams the ball into the goal 

__

I tell the kids that it's all okay

Heero landed wrong from the kick, spraining his ankle, a fact that his jubilant teammates are slow to notice. Heero shrugs off their offers of help and limps back to the building alone, leaving behind his celebrating classmates  
_I like to laugh so my friends won't know_  
scene change to the inside of Duo's junkyard office. Duo is in his element, trading rowdy jokes with his tough-looking clients, laughing uproariously along with them

__

When the bell rings I just don't wanna go home  
As the last chuckling construction worker exits the shop, promising Duo a beer next time he goes out with them, Duo stops grinning. He slumps slightly and begins to put away the things listlessly

__

  
Go to my room and I close my eyes

Quatre, shaking his head to his sisters' invitation to join them for dinner, enters his room. He sits down on the edge of his bed, putting his hands over his face  
_I make believe that I have a new life_

He tries imagining what his perfect life would be like; one without the stress of running a corporation, without having the livelihoods of several thousand people dependent on you; one where his family was all alive and together, and his friends lived nearby and dropped in regularly, just like normal best buddies…  
_I don't believe you when you say_  
scene change to Trowa, standing in the performers' entrance to the circus tent. He looks up at the bleachers filled with happy families, turning as Catherine puts her hand on his shoulder. "Isn't this great, Trowa?" she asks him. He looks at her with a non-committal expression on his face

__

Everything will be wonderful someday  
_  
Promises mean everything when you're little_

Full-screen view of Wing Zero and Heero, the pilot looking tiny in comparison to the massive war machine as he sits on Wing's right shoulder, leaning against the Gundam's head and staring into space

__

And the world is so big

scene change to that scene in GW where Quatre is lying on his stomach, looking out over the desert with his binoculars  
_I just don't understand how_

scene change to Wufei slumped down against the wall of the Preventers gym, his katana across his knees

__

You can smile with all those tears in your eyes

scene change to Duo grinning widely at a cashier as he purchases groceries

__

When you tell me everything is wonderful now  
He nods his head in agreement as the middle-aged woman comments on how nice life was nowadays  
  
_Na na na na na na na_  
Heero standing in the school shower, letting the jets of hot water stream down his motionless body. Trying not to think. "No…"

Wufei jumps up and swings his sword viciously. "NO!"

  
_I don't wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now_  
Trowa kneels next to the lion cage. He reaches out a hand and strokes the big cat's thick mane, his eyes far away. "No…"

Quatre sitting at his desk, looking at the stack of papers awaiting his signature. Suddenly, with a look of profound disgust and weariness on his face, he pushes them away. "No!"

__

I don't wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now

Duo arriving at his house. He opens the door, and stops for a moment, looking over the clutter and everyday mess of a bachelor living alone. And for some reason, the mundane reality of it all hits him. He drops the bag of groceries and sinks slowly down against the wall. "No…"

  
_I don't wanna hear you say_

scene opens on Wufei, still engaged in a sword kata, face grim and determined  
_That I will understand someday_

He throws himself fully into the dance of steel and flesh, trying to regain some small measure of satisfaction in the exercise, trying to rid himself of the nagging feeling of unrest

__

No, no, no, no

He slashes at the air furiously; vertical, horizontal, diagonal, diagonal  
_I don't wanna hear you say_

Heero rolls over in his bed and slams his fist down on the alarm clock that has woken him. He slowly gets out of bed and heads to his bathroom to get ready for the school day

__

You both have grown in a different way

As he's about to leave, he stops and looks at the image in the mirror; the neat white shirt and crisp blue trousers, the dark tie, the blazer bereft of any form of weapon, the dark hair brushed neatly to comply with school rules

__

No, no, no, no

Suddenly, he punches the wall next to the mirror viciously, gritting his teeth as cracks spiderweb across the tile and blood starts to seep from his torn skin

__

I don't wanna meet your friends

scene change to Duo declining the invitation of one of his customers to head on down to the town for a boys' night out

__

And I don't wanna start over again

As the man leaves, Duo shuts off the light, preparing to go back home

__

I just wanna my life to be the same  
As he locks up the gate of the yard, he pauses and strokes a large sheet of black metal-a sheet of Gundanium, fallen shard of a destroyed war machine

__

Just like it used to be  
He withdraws his hand and leaves the yard. The camera stays fixed, following his receding figure through the dimness of Colony 'night' until he disappears around a bend

__

Some days I hate everything

Scene changes back to Heero, walking angrily fast to his school, shoving past other pedestrians with little (if any) regret or shame  
_I hate everything_

Quatre pacing angrily back and forth across his office, his heavy footfalls muffled by the thick carpeting underneath

__

Everyone and everything  
He passes by his desk, and with a jagged, sharp movement, flings the stack of forms and requisitions and memos to the ground. The camera catches the white sheets fluttering lightly to the ground in slow motion, their gentle motion a stark contrast to Quatre's sharp-edged actions

__

Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now  
_  
Na na na na na na na_  
Screen splits into five parts, showing the pilots all leaning against a wall, a tree, a doorframe, all of them alone, bringing up one hand to cover their faces, their stances identical

__

Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now 

Trowa walks away from the cage he was leaning against, going inside to practice with Catherine

__

Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now

Duo walks out of his bathroom and begins rifling through his closet for his clothes

__

Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now  
Quatre sighs and begins to pick up the papers strewn across the floor

__

I don't wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now 

the scene shows a five-way split of the backs of the pilots, all walking away from the camera towards a brightness that outlines their figures until the glare is too much and you can't see them. Fade to black


End file.
